Ledger tray



Jan. 6, 1953 N. s. WELK 2,624,343

LEDGER TRAY Original Filed Sept. 23, 1946 2 SHEETS- -SI-IEET 1 FIG.

J0 Z5 Z5 I Z! INVENTOR, new 5. new BY Patentecl Jan. 6, 1953 D *iszm'rs Nelson S. Welk, Athens, Ohio, assignor to ,The

McBee Company, Athens,0hio, a corporation Continuation of application-Serial- No. 698,688,"

l September 23,1946. This application February .25, 1950, Serial No.- 146,35 1

This application is a continuation, application for my copending application" 'entitled Ledger Tray, filed September 23,.19445, and bearing Serial No. 698,688.

This invention. relates to ledger trays.

.Heretofor'e, ledger trays have usually been in "the form'of "a metal 'b'oxequipped with'a front plate known as a compressor and a movable rear plate known age follower. The compressor has always been permanently attached to the extrerne front of the tray and equipped with some ;type of hinge at its base to permit the compressor toswing between a vertical and angled positions and also equipped with some means of locking it in the vertical position afterthe posting is completedand the ledger sheet contents are held in upright alignment. The follower usually has been adjustable relative to the compressor by operating in a channel running full length of the tray. It also has been equipped with a hinge at its base to permit pivotal or-swinging movement similar to that of the compressor. This typeof construction requires moving the entire body of ledger sheets or cards" longitudinally in the tray at the commencement of posting in 'order to provide posting space in the tray. Also, such prior trays were made 'for aparticular ledger sheet size which meant, of course, that the manufacturer had to manufacture a different '-tray for each standard width and height of ledger card or sheet to be housed. Obviously, therefore, when a ledger card was employed which 'was off-standard in size, the tray had to be "specially built.

- It'is the principal object ofmy invention to provide a ge nerally' improved ledger tray of the character-referred to which is so constructed that --posting-space may be created without shifting the ledger cards-and which tray is capable of accommodating different sizes of ledger cards within a certain range. 1 T accomplish the above objects, I have provided a ledger tray comprising, in general, a horizontallydisposed flat base on which is mounted upright opposing compressor or front plate and follower or rear plate. These plates are disposed transversely of the base and independently movable longitudinally thereof, vbeing capable of an angular adjustment. To enable the tray to accommodatecards of different sizes, the side walls of the tray which are disposed longitudinally and vertically thereof are hinged eat their bottom edges to the base so that. they may swing toward and away from each-other in aplane transversely of the base.

One form which the invention may assume is exemplified in the following description and illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which: e u -Fig. 1-is" a view'in side elevation of a tray emg til s; 1 5.1%???) l preferred form of my inventlonwith .is, preferably constructed 'of, sheet metal.

parts broken away to more clearly disclose certain features of construction and with the compressor and follower in tilted position.

, Fig. 2, isa view similar to Fig- 1 of theledger tray with the compressor and follower invertical position. 4 V Fig.3 is'a view inplan section taken' on line 3.toffFig.2..

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view in transverse section taken on line 44 of Fig. 3.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, I 0 indicates a ledger tray embodying one form of my invention. This tray comprises a horizontally disposed fiat base llv which The base I lisgenerally flat and rectangular in form and has parallel side edges and parallel front and rear edges.

Formed along the longitudinal center of the upper surface of the base H is a channeled depression I 2, the sides of which are parallel to the side edges of the base ll. Secured in the depression [2 so as to be approximately flush with the upper surface of the base II, is a channeled track 14. 'The channeled track 14 carries a plurality of equally spaced rectangular keeper slots I5 disposed along its longitudinal center.

Slidably mounted in the channel track M is a compressor. guide l6 and a followerguide ll, each formed with a rectangular perforation 18 to longitudinally align with. the keeper slits l5. Affixed to the guides l6 and l! respectively are a compressor 19 and an opposing follower 25). Since thecompressor l9 and the follower 2% are identical, only .oneisdescribed in detail. -M-Sfi l Fiiql vp t ac o h g es v(orlfl) is an upstanding bracket ;2 l-. Aplate' 22, disposed transverselyof the base H, is adjustably connected tothe bracket 2|-.- This connection is'"eifected by .a. pair ofprojecting ears 23 integral with the plate 22 which are pivotally connected near their lower edges to the bracket 2| by means of a pivot pin 24. The ears 23 are sl'idably connected near. their upper edges to the bracket 2| bymeans of a'pivot pin 25 that engages coinciding 'arcuate slots 2% formed in the ears23. .Thus, the plate 22 is movable from a vertical or closed position to an inclined open or working position, which inclination is upward and longitudinal toward the end of the tray.

Pivotally mounted on the outer ends of the pivot pin 25 is a cam lever 21 comprising a pair of relatively fixed similar levers 28 and an operating handle 29 afiixed to and extending between the outer arms of the levers 28. The inner arms of the levers 28 are formed with similar cam surfacestn'and latching surfaces 3|. When theplate 22" is in its inclined position as illustrated in Fig. 1, the plate 22 rests against the cam surfaces 39. As the operating handle 29 is swung upwardly, the plate 22 is cammed to a vertical position. If the user desires to latch the plate 22 in a vertical position as illustrated in Fig. 2, the operating handle 29 is swung upwardly until the latching surfaces 3| engage the plate 22. When the operating handle 29 is swung downwardly, the plate 22 is forced to its inclined open position by the weight of the plate itself and the pressure of any ledger sheets contained in the tray II].

To latch the plate 22 against longitudinal movement, a latching lever 32 is pivotally mounted intermediate the wings of the bracket 2! by means of a pivot 24. The latching lever 32 is formed with a handle arm 33 and a latch keeper 34 which is integral with and extending from the lower ends of the lever 32. When the latching lever 32 is in its latched position, the keeper 34 projects through the perforation H3 in the guide It (or I7) and engages one of the keeper slots I 5, thus latching the plate 2| against movement longitudinally of the base H. When the upper handle arm 33 is moved towardthe plate, 22, the keeper 34 is moved out of engagement with the keeper slot and the plate 22 can be moved longitudinally in relation to the base To provide posting space at the front of the tray, the user need only adjust the compressor l9 forwardly in the tray 10, thus eliminating the necessity of moving all of the ledger cards or sheets to the rear of the tray as required by the utilization of prior ledger trays. By properly adjusting the positions of the compressor I9 and the follower 29 on the base, the ledger sheets held by them can be balanced in the tray 10, thus facilitating transportation of the same.

The tray is also equipped with flat side walls 95 which are longitudinally and vertically disposed one adjacent each marginal side edge of the base ll. Projecting from the bottom edge of each side wall 35 are fingers 36 which project through suitable perforations 31 formed in the upper surface of the base H. These fingers are righ't-angularly bent, as shown, so as to limit the tilting movement of the side walls 35.

Extending inwardly at right angles from the ends of each side wall 35 are wings 38, each of which is formed with an arcuate slot 39 near its lower edge. Rigidly fixed to the base [I are brackets 29, disposed so as to extend parallel and adjacent to the inner surface of the wings 38. The brackets 40 are fitted with suitable pivot screws 4! which engage the arcuate perforations 39. By tightening the screws 4|, the side walls 95 can be secured against tilting movement, and the ledgers contained therein against lateral movement. By loosening the screws 4|, the side walls 35 can be tilted to accommodate difierent sizes of ledger sheets within a certain range.

To hold the bottom edge of the ledger sheets in place, I have provided a pair of rubber strips 42, one of which is secured in a suitable depression formed in the base II a spaced distance on each side of and extending parallel with the channeled track I4.

In the use of the ledger tray l9, posting space in the front of the tray can be obtained by merely adjusting the compressor 19 forwardly in the tray, thus eliminating the necessity of rearranging all of the ledger cards or sheets. Also, by proper adjustment of the compressor 19 and the follower 20, the user can balance the ledger sheets or cards in the tray, thereby insuring the stability of the tray. The side walls 35 can be adjusted to accommodate ledger sheets or cards of any size within a certain range. Four ledger trays of standard widths can be constructed to house any size ledger sheet or card varying from five to fourteen inches in width, thus eliminating the cost of manufacturing special trays for non-standard size ledgers.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in its construction by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a ledger tray, a base, a member slidable on said base, a bracket carried by said member, a plate pivotally mounted on said bracket for pivotal movement about an axis adjacent said member, a bodily stationary pivot pin supported by the bracket at a point above, spaced from and parallel to the pivotal axis of the plate, said plate having a rearwardly extending flange arcuately slotted to receive said bodily stationary pivot pin and serving to limit forward movement of the plate, and a lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on the pivot pin and having a handle formed at one end thereof and a, cam formed at its opposite end engageable with said plate to control the angular relation thereof with respect to said bracket and member.

2. A ledger tray of the character described comprising, a base having a channeled track therein, a member slidably mounted within said track, a bracket mounted on said member, said bracket comprising a pair of spaced upright parallel side pieces having at their base portions a first pivot pin carried by and extending through said side pieces and at their upper portion a second pivot pin carried by and extending through said side pieces, a plate having a pair of parallel brackets normal to the plane of said plate, said plate being pivotally mounted at the base of its pair of parallel brackets to said first pivot pin, each of said parallel brackets having a curved slot formed at its upper portion and said second pivot pin extending through said slots to limit the pivotal movement of said plate about said first pivot pin, and a cam pivotally mounted to said second pivot pin and engaging said plata'said cam having an operatin handle for movement of said cam to a first position where said plate is releasably locked in a position normal to the base and for movement to a second position where said plate can pivot about the first pivot pin to the extent limited by the second pivot pin whichextends through the curved slots in the parallel brackets.

NELSON S. W E LK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

